Joseph Pilsudski

Joseph Piłsudski , Pol. Józef Piłsudski , 1867-1935, Polish general and politician. He was exiled (1887-92) to Siberia for an alleged attempt on the life of Czar Alexander III, who ruled a large section of Poland. On his return he joined the Polish Socialist party and began (1894) publication of the Robotnik [worker], a secret party organ. Again imprisoned in 1900, he soon escaped. Piłsudski, who subordinated social aims to national emancipation, struggled exclusively for Polish independence. To that end he organized various anti-Russian militant groups—notably, after the outbreak (1914) of World War I, the Polish Legions, which he commanded under Austrian sponsorship. When the Central Powers demanded extensive Polish mobilization in return for vague promises of independence, Piłsudski refused to give his support and was imprisoned (1917) at Magdeburg. Released in Nov., 1918, he returned to Warsaw, assumed command of the Polish armies, and proclaimed an independent Polish republic, which he headed. Meanwhile a more conservative Polish national committee, that had favored cooperation with the Allies in the war, had established itself at Paris and won Allied recognition. A compromise was reached in 1919, when Paderewski became premier while Piłsudski continued as chief of state. Piłsudski used force to expand the eastern frontier of Poland, and the peace treaty with Russia (see Riga, Treaty of , 1921) incorporated several million Ukrainians and White Russians into Poland. In accordance with the Polish constitution of 1921, Piłsudski surrendered (1922) his powers and soon retired to private life. Disagreeing with the policies of the Witos cabinet, he overthrew the government by a coup in 1926. As war minister he exercised a virtual dictatorship until his death. He also was premier from 1926 to 1928 and in 1930. The constitution of 1935 made a pretense of parliamentary democracy. Piłsudski's authoritarian regime was a military dictatorship with slight fascistic overtones, although it never was formalized as in fascist countries. His succession was assumed by a group of military men, among them Rydz-Smigly.

Bibliography: See Piłsudski's memoirs (tr. 1931, repr. 1972); biographies by his wife, Alexandra Pilsudska (1941, repr. 1970) and W. Jedrzejewicz (1982).

Pilsudski, Joseph Klemens (b. 5 Dec. 1867, d. 12 May 1935). Polish leader 1926–35 Born near Vilna (Russian Poland), he studied at the University of Kharkov. He became a leading agitator for the Polish Socialist Party from 1893, though the fight for Polish independence against Russian occupation became his central concern. In 1887 he was exiled to Siberia, where he remained until 1892. He returned to Poland and founded an underground newspaper which agitated for Polish independence. When war broke out in 1914 he raised a force of Polish volunteers to join the Austro-Hungarians on the Russian front. German refusal to guarantee the ultimate independence of Poland after the Russian Revolution in February 1917 led him to withdraw his support for Germany, whereupon he was interned 1917–18. When the new Republic of Poland was proclaimed, he became head of state (1918–22) and army Chief of Staff (1918–23). In the Russo-Polish War, he successfully exploited the Russian Civil War to extend Poland's eastern border. He withdrew from politics in 1922, but in 1926 carried out an army coup, dissolved Parliament, and appointed his own protégés such as Beck to important political positions. He himself remained as Minister of War and general inspector of the armed forces until his death. His regime failed to modernize the Polish army, or its economy. Furthermore, his ingrained hostility to Russia blinded him and his followers to the growing threat of Nazi Germany.